Here’s the shell on the left, next to a Grovia shell in perfect working order. The back of the shell is at the top. I grabbed my seam ripper and started exploring. I could feel the elastic was still tacked in to one side of the diaper, so I randomly picked a seam to unravel on the back of the diaper. Don’t do this.

Pictured below, where the tag is, is the seam I should have started with (and where I went next).

Unpicking stitches.

Starting to get access to what I need access to.

Here is what the baby is doing while I’m undoing seams:

Yay, I have a hole and can see where the elastic is attached!

Here is where I make my mistake. I start undoing the top seam holding the two layers together in order to understand what is going on.

I have located the elastic (which is still in good working order, but somehow came unmoored from the other side) and ripped out several inches of top seam. Eek!

The baby has now found some exercise equipment to play with.

I get the elastic and use the old safety pin trick to get it back through what remains of the channel it is supposed to go through.

Hey, the shape is looking right!

Then I have to sew things up. This is where I wish I had never touched the top seam and instead come in from the side where the tag is, because after the elastic is reattached it’s really hard to repair the top seam without sewing the elastic into the seam. Which is ridiculous as you want the channel around the elastic to move. That is the whole point of elastic.

Anyway, I managed. I accidentally sewed a bit of elastic into the seam at each end, as you can tell from this picture, but the diaper cover is fully functional again.

If not exactly elegant.

And here it is in action.

Shortly after I finished this, someone gave me the link to Grovia’s picture tutorial on replacing elastic. It is here.

It is a waste management issue, really. Our cloth diaper stash is falling apart. Most of our diapers are BumGenius pocket all-in-one diapers, and we bought many of them gently used. They are adjustable, so we were able to start using them once BabyC’s umbilical cord had fallen off, and she’s now wearing the same diapers on the medium setting. They should last until she transitions to underwear in another year or so. We love them, truly.

BabyC helping with diaper-folding, back when all our cloth diapers were fresh and functional

The only problem we have run into is that the velcro has worn out, especially on our second-hand diapers. It is not very satisfying to change a squirmy toddler and then have her run off, only to find her diaper resting in the crotch of her pants a few minutes later.

One tired cloth diaper

To address this common problem, BumGenius offers velcro replacement kits for $1 apiece. This is great, because these diapers are expensive, and if you have a sewing machine, this gives you an easy fix. Problem is, we want these diapers to last for another child, and I know we’d have to replace the velcro several more times to make it through another kid. And we don’t have a sewing machine. Plus, BabyC is at an age where she’s figured out velcro in general, and she thinks diaper removal is a fun project.

We have a few diapers with snaps instead of velcro. During the early months, I was not a big fan of these. I found the snaps tricky when changing a fussy baby in the middle of a bleary night. Now that the velcro is failing us, I love the snap diapers. So when Husband suggested converting our velcro diapers to snaps, I was intrigued but also skeptical that it would be too difficult. I was wrong, which sometimes happens.

We purchased snaps and a pair of snap pliers from KamSnaps.com. They actually carry matching snaps for the colors carried by the big diaper brands, but we just chose a few gender neutral colors and mixed them up. We found plenty of tutorials online for snap conversion (including YouTube videos), so I won’t bore you with the details. The process involves first removing the velcro with a stitch picker or, in our case, a scalpel (hey, you make use of what you have). Then you pop the snaps on using the pliers.

Diaper revived.

The truth is, I couldn’t tell you how to do this project. Because the best part is that Husband has done it all. Why yes, he is pretty awesome. I think it takes him around 20 minutes per diaper, and he has quite a few to go. But it turns out that this project works well in front of an NBA playoff game, so I haven’t heard any complaints.

I love our new snap diapers. I love the fun colors and the fact that BabyC can’t pull them off. I love the idea that when the weather warms up, BabyC can run around in one of these diapers alone and it makes a cute all-in-one outfit and waste absorber.

Rockin’ a new diaper.

And I love the fact that I haven’t been the one doing the tedious job of picking out stitches.

What are you loving today?